News Photo by Steve Schulwitz A radar-equipped speed limit sign notifies a driver in the right lane that he or she is driving too fast and to slow down. The Alpena Police Department installed eight of the electronic signs throughout the city to collect data about motorists’ speeding tendencies.

ALPENA — Over the last several months, the Alpena Police Department has dispatched more than a handful of radar-equipped speed limit signs throughout the city that measure and display the speed of passing motorists.

Police aim to slow down drivers in Alpena and Alpena Police Chief Eric Hamp said early data shows the signs are working.

Hamp said the city began utilizing the electronic signs while the Bagley Street Bridge was under construction. He said police then installed two signs on 11th Avenue to show people if they travel faster than the posted speed limit and to gather data related to speeding.

From the time construction on the bridge began in 2020 until crews completed the project late the following year, the number of crashes along the detour route skyrocketed, Hamp said. He said speed caused many of the wrecks and police figured the signs would tell a driver if he or she was driving too fast and help avoid a collision and or a speeding ticket.

When the first two signs were installed, things didn’t go smoothly, Hamp said. But, since then, the signs seem to be slowing traffic down in the areas they are posted.

“The number of accidents we were having during construction of the bridge was extremely high, and a lot of it was because of drivers going too fast,” Hamp said. “Two were set up near the (Alpena County) Fairgrounds, and, ironically, both of them ended up being taken out by motor vehicle accidents.”

Currently, the city has eight radar-equipped speed limit signs scattered around Alpena, Hamp said, and the city has another one mounted on a trailer that officials can move from place to place. Hamp said officials can place the mobile unit anywhere and crews often place that sign in areas where police get complaints of people speeding through residential neighborhoods. He said each sign records an individual vehicle’s speed, the time of day, and the date. That information is reviewed periodically and police officials adjust patrols if the data reveals an area where speeding is a problem.

The city has no intent to remove the signs, at least in the near future, but even the ones anchored to the ground can be moved, if needed, the police chief said. He said the city is not conducting a speed study and officials have no current plans to adjust speed limits.

Hamp said there are cameras mounted to the signs, but they are only activated if there is a sudden impact on the sign, such as a vehicle crashing into it or people trying to destroy or vandalize them.

“We are not recording or taking pictures of people’s license plates,” he said. “This is just a way to let people know when they are driving too fast and for them to slow down. So far, all the data we have seen shows they are doing exactly what we intended them to do.”